• The_Terrible_Humbaba@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I honestly don’t understand why this is so controversial in (what I perceive to be) a left of Liberal space. I’ve always seen Affirmative Action as the embodiment of the old “Conservative vs Liberal” meme:

    Conservative: Fuck workers and poor people!

    Liberals: Fuck workers and poor people! #BLM 🏳‍🌈

    A though experiment:

    A company/university is choosing one from two candidates, named A and B, who are from two different races.

    With Affirmative Action: Person A gets the spot.

    Without Affirmative Action: Person B gets the spot.

    What changed?

    Just the demographics. In both cases, one person is still denied a job/education. Instead of fixing the problems with unemployment and lack of education, we just evenly distributed those problems across different races.

    In essence, Affirmative Action just tries to hide the problem instead of fixing it; like trying to put a band-aid on cancer.


    On a semi related note: race is not even a scientific concept; it is merely a social construct. One which we would do well to get rid of. But among many things, Affirmative Action is one that helps to reinforce it.

    • P03 Locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Agreed. Affirmative Action was a bad idea, ridden with so many unanswered problems, and shit articles with clickbait titles don’t change that fact. The biggest trick the rich ever pulled was convincing the poor that it’s the other race’s fault. AA actively encouraged that behavior.

      The best way to attack systematic racism is to install long-lasting social programs that elevate the poor and disenfranchised. Men, women, whites, PoC, gays, transgenders, etc., etc. all have more in common with each other than they have with rich people.